Internet Protocol television (“IPTV”) service providers deliver television content to end users over the Internet, as opposed to terrestrial, satellite, and/or cable networks used by conventional television service providers. IPTV allows for integration of television with other IP-based services (e.g., high speed Internet access and voice over IP (“VOIP”) telephone services), provides opportunities to make television content interactive and personalized, and can be more economical for television service providers than conventional television delivery platforms.
To facilitate access by an end user to television content provided by an IPTV service provider, the end user may be provided with an in-home IPTV processing system, which may include an IP-based set-top box device for each television in the end user's home and an IP-based digital video recording (“DVR”) device. The set-top box devices may be configured to receive IPTV streams that include television content provided by the IPTV service provider and present the television content by way of the televisions. The DVR device may be configured to automatically receive and record IPTV streams received by any of the set-top box devices in order to provide DVR functionality for the set-top boxes. In this manner, each set-top box device does not have to include its own DVR capabilities (e.g., storage space, etc.).
A DVR device included in an in-home IPTV processing system associated with an end user may be limited, either by hardware limitations of the DVR device or by a subscription plan associated with the end user, to concurrently receiving and recording a predetermined maximum number of IPTV streams. For example, an exemplary DVR device may only receive and record up to twelve IPTV streams at any given time. Because the DVR device may continue receiving and recording an IPTV stream received by a set-top box device even after the set-top box device switches to a different IPTV stream (e.g., so that the end user may later switch back to the first IPTV stream and watch the first IPTV stream in a time-shifted manner), the DVR device may quickly reach the maximum number of IPTV streams that it is allowed to concurrently receive and record.